Political Life
Yishai started his political life as a member of the Jerusalem City Council from 1987-1988. He was first elected to the Knesset in the 1996 elections as a member of Shas, the Sephardic and Mizrahi Haredi party, and was made Minister of Labour and Social Welfare in Binyamin Netanyahu's government.
He retained his seat in the 1999 elections, and was again appointed Minister of Labor and Social Welfare in Ehud Barak's government. After Ariel Sharon beat Barak in the 2001 Prime Ministerial election, Yishai was appointed as Interior Minister and made a Deputy Prime Minister in Sharon's national unity government.
Yishai took over as party leader when Aryeh Deri was convicted of fraud but Shas were not included in Ariel Sharon's coalition government of the 16th Knesset.
After the 2006 elections Shas were invited to join Ehud Olmert's coalition and Yishai was made Minister of Industry, Trade, and Labour as well as being a Deputy Prime Minister. He remained Deputy Prime Minister following the 2009 elections, but moved to the Internal Affairs portfolio.
Read more about this topic: Eli Yishai
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